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An Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA) is a new requirement for foreign nationals from visa-exempt countries arriving in Canada by air, whether to visit the country directly or to pass through in transit.

For the fourth month in a row, the unemployment rate in Northeast British Columbia has been so low that they can’t be reported. The latest available data measures the rate through January and shows that collapsing oil and LNG prices have yet to have a big impact on employment in the region.

The unemployment rate for the Northeast has been listed as “not available” by BC Stats since October 2014, because Canada’s national statistical agency won’t release the data due to a “confidentiality threshold” set at 1,500 unemployed people to prevent “direct or residual disclosure of identifiable data,” according to the agency’s website.

Approximately 1,100 people are currently without jobs in the region. According to Labour Force Statistics (LFS) data. Of the region’s 41,600-strong labour force, approximately 40,500 are employed.

The latest official rate BC Stats released for the region was in September 2014, when it was listed at 4 per cent. The monthly LFS report by BC Stats uses data compiled by Statistics Canada. The data shows that there are more jobs than there are people willing to work.

That also means Northeast B.C. remains at full employment, which is reached when virtually everyone who is able and willing to work is employed.

Closing coal mines and tumbling oil and LNG prices have done little to reverse the region’s rising rate of employment. In each of the four months that the unemployment data has been withheld, the number of employed persons in the region has increased. Roughly 38,600 people were employed in Northeastern B.C. in October 2014, rising to 38,800 in November, 39,600 in December and 40,500 in January 2015.

According to a report from BC Stats in January 2015, the labour shortage has been a driving force behind a number of trends: Northeast B.C. grew the fastest in the province from 2013 to 2014,

While workers from across the province are moving north for jobs in large numbers, some employers fill job vacancies with temporary foreign workers. Blue Fuel Energy, for example, has said it might largely rely on workers from outside the region for the construction of a $2.5 billion natural-gas-to-gasoline refinery and methanol plant just outside of Chetwynd. There simply aren’t enough workers in the Peace Region, the company says.

“It’s a large project near by that is going to take away a big workforce,” he said, as a result the large plant may require the use of temporary foreign workers, which Puetter indicated is “something we are working with our engineering firms on because we don’t know where we are going to get the people from.”

According to a recent British Columbia Labor Outlook report, planned or confirmed economic activity in the province is expected to create around 985,000 job vacancies by 2022. Further, the province will require 100,000 new employees from the LNG activity. In all, British Columbia will require a million individuals for newly-created skilled jobs by 2022.

The province may end up with stalled projects worth billions of dollars over the next decade unless a quick fix is found for the acute shortage of skilled labor in the province. The provincial administration is expected to depend on immigrants and workers from Asian countries to tackle the existing and future labor shortages.

An important step towards tackling the predicted labor shortage was taken with the introduction of a new Express Entry British Columbia stream under the Province Nominee Program. This stream will work in sync with the Federal Express Entry system introduced by Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The Federal system came into force on 1st January, 2015 for facilitating easier entry of skilled labor into Canada.

Since the new stream introduced by BC works in tandem with the Federal Scheme, applicants can enjoy the benefit of priority processing of the British Columbia PNP application, and of the permanent residence application, which, of course, will be processed only if the applicant is nominated.

British Columbia’s Minister of Jobs, Tourism and Skills Training and Minister Responsible for Labor stated that the administration wanted to accord top priority to British Columbians for all the jobs in the province. However, the Minister conceded that economic immigration is vital for fulfilling the rising demand for labor in the growing economy of the province.

Express Entry British Columbia is expected to streamline the process and serve as the gateway for skilled workers from all over the world who wish to permanently reside in the province. Labor analysts and immigration experts anticipate a surge in applications from countries like India, China, Philippines, and other Asian countries. In 2014, Philippines sprung a surprise to beat China and India and become the biggest source for new immigrants seeking to shift to Canada.

Canada is an attractive destination for Asian migrants seeking better opportunities and a high quality of living abroad. The acute shortage of labor combined with the high standard of living in Canada is the reason why the country is attracting new immigrants in record numbers.

Canada has implemented a new immigration system designed to make it easier for skilled young migrants with professional qualifications to enter the country. The earlier system that was in force throughout 2014 had been panned for not being effective in attracting migrants to Canada.

Launched on January 1, the Express Entry system accords higher priority to those who have already been offered jobs in Canada. Prior to this system, Canada had been relying on the Temporary Foreign Worker Program, which had been implemented by Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper to cater to the shortage of skilled labor in Canada.

Official data indicates that a significant proportion of the 330,000 temporary workers accepted in 2012 ended up working in fast-food outlets. On the other hand, Canada had granted entry to around 100,000 temporary foreign workers with most migrants working in agriculture or in jobs in remote parts of the country. This figure dropped to around 240,000 in 2014, and the Citizenship and Immigration Minister has stated that Canada intends to grant entry to around 260,000 to 285,000 migrants in 2015.

The entry of temporary workers from foreign countries has been justified by the administration on the ground that Canadians don’t prefer working in fast-food outlets. This is why the government is seeking foreign workers, although these migrants cannot seek permanent residence, and have to accept fewer rights and lesser benefits as compared to Canadian residents.

The three-fold increase between 2002 and 2012 has coincided with the policy that allows companies to pay just 85% of normal wages to foreign workers from Latin American countries and nations like the Philippines. However, this has had a detrimental impact on the Canadian labor market and companies prefer to replace Canadian citizens with less expensive foreign labor.

After withstanding pressure from trade unions for a long time, the government finally came clean in 2014 and admitted that the Temporary Foreign Worker Program was being abused by employers. In some cases, foreign workers were even given death threats by employers. Succumbing to pressure, the government went ahead and suspended a part of the Program.

After being criticized for tinkering with the immigration system for the sole purpose of catering to the needs of the most influential sectors of the economy, the Harper government has introduced the Express Entry system to silence its critics.

Under the Express Entry system, candidates will be assessed on the basis of a wide range of factors like age, education, proficiency in language, and work experience.

The Immigration Minister has pointed out that the new system allows the government to select those immigrants who shall be top contributors to the Canadian communities, its labor market, and its overall economy.

Close on the heels of the new Federal system, British Columbia has implemented a skilled-worker immigration program for catering to employers who need high-skilled labor without lengthy delays. The stream will be focused primarily on those with offers for full-time and permanent jobs, and who, further, have the economic means to support themselves in the country.

Under the new stream introduced by British Columbia, applicants must apply through the Express Entry system introduced by the Federal Government. The applicants must complete the assessment under the program and fit into one of the economic immigration streams under the program. Then, they must specify their interest to settle in British Columbia.

After this, they must apply under the Express Entry system of the province under one of its four categories. The four categories are:

Skilled Worker: Occupations that require university degree or trade school diploma. This category includes management jobs, professional jobs, and trading jobs.

International Graduate: For migrants with degree from a recognized post-secondary institution or diploma or certificate from public post-secondary institutions in Canada.

International Post Graduate: Migrants with Master’s or Doctoral degree in natural, applied, or health sciences. The degree must have been received not more than two years before the application. The degree must have been granted under an eligible program at a post-secondary institution in the province.

Except for the International Post Graduate category, the immigrants must have a full time job offer of an indeterminate length with wages that will be adequate for the immigrant to support himself or herself in the province.

Further, the provincial Express Entry system will prefer immigrants with several years of experience. It is not aimed at facilitating the entry of immigrants seeking low-skilled jobs in fields like agriculture, caregiving, or food-related occupations. Such immigrants must seek short-term work permits or enter through international exchange programs or through the Temporary Foreign Worker Program.

CIC’s decision to increase nominee slots for the province to 5,500 in 2015 has brought it at par with the Prairie province. In 2014, British Columbia had been issued 4,150 slots, significantly lower than the spaces granted to the Prairie province.

To qualify under British Columbia Express Entry Categories, you must hold a validated offer of full-time indeterminate employment from a British Columbia employer

The Government of British Columbia promotes its own Express Entry stream, enabling the province to nominate qualified candidates for admission to Canada under the federal Express Entry immigration system. A sponsoring employer is required.

To qualify under the British Columbia Express Entry, you must first meet the minimum eligibility criteria for one of the applicable federal Express Entry programs below and you must include a mandatory language proficiency level. In most cases an independent assessment of your education against Canadian standards must also be included.

Federal Skilled Worker Program

Federal Skilled Trades Program

Canadian Experience Class

In addition, potential candidates must qualify for one of British Columbia Express Entry Categories:

The British Columbia Express Entry Categories are aimed at selecting applicants who have the education, experience, language proficiency and adaptability to successfully establish in British Columbia and contribute to the province’s prosperity. The potential candidates must intend to reside in British Columbia.

An advantage of applying under the British Columbia Express Entry Categories is that priority processing will be given to the PNP application, and if nominated, the permanent residence application.

Skilled Worker British Columbia Express Entry Category

To be eligible under the Skilled Worker BC Express Entry Category, applicants must meet the following mandatory criteria:

Meet the minimum criteria for one of the CIC’s Express Entry Programs and have been accepted into CIC’s Express Entry pool: you must have an Express Entry Profile Number and Job Seeker Validation Code;

Have work experience in a high skilled occupation (NOC “0”, “A” or “B”);

Have the appropriate educational credentials to qualify for your work position;

Have an offer of full-time indeterminate employment from an eligible employer;

Demonstrate sufficient settlement funds to support yourself and your dependents in British Columbia.

Health Care Professionals (physicians, nurses, midwives, etc.) may apply under this category if they have, in addition to the above requirements:

an offer of full-time indeterminate employment from the Public Health Authority in BC, and

appropriate licensing or registration.

International Graduate British Columbia Express Entry Category

To be eligible under the International Graduate BC Express Entry Category, applicants must meet the following mandatory criteria:

Meet the minimum criteria for one of the CIC’s Express Entry Programs and have been accepted into CIC’s Express Entry pool: you must have an Express Entry Profile Number and Job Seeker Validation Code;

Have the appropriate educational credentials: degree, diploma or certificate from a Canadian post-secondary educational institution;

Have an offer of full-time indeterminate employment from an eligible employer, that requires your educational credentials;

Demonstrate sufficient settlement funds to support yourself and your dependents in British Columbia

International Post-Graduate British Columbia Express Entry Category

This category is only available to natural, applied or health sciences graduates. An offer of employment is not necessary under this category

To be eligible under the International Post-Graduate BC Express Entry Category, applicants must meet the following mandatory criteria:

Meet the minimum criteria for one of the CIC’s Express Entry Programs and have been accepted into CIC’s Express Entry pool: you have an Express Entry Profile Number and Job Seeker Validation Code;

Have the appropriate educational credentials: masters or PhD degree from a Canadian post-secondary educational institution, in the following domains:

Agriculture

Biological and biomedical sciences

Computer and information sciences and support services

Engineering

Engineering technology

Health professions and related clinical sciences

Mathematics and statistics

Natural resources conservation and research

Physical sciences

Demonstrate that you intend to reside in British Columbia.

Under British Columbia Express Entry, the Government of British Columbia in 2015 plans to increase its provincial nominations quota under the federal Express Entry system by 1350 to 5500.

Find out whether you qualify to Canada by completing our free on-line evaluation. We will provide you with your evaluation results within 1-2 business days.

British Columbia launched its express entry immigration system aimed at fast tracking the process of bringing in foreign employees with needed skills.

To be eligible applicants need to be a skilled worker with a university degree or diploma as well as have substantial work experience. With the exception of the international post graduates, a sponsor employer offering a permanent full-time job offer is required.

In order to apply an applicant must first submit an application through the federal Express Entry program and indicate an intention to settle in British Columbia.

The British Columbia Express Entry option to British Columbia offers the following four categories through which potential applicants can enter Canada:

International post graduates: Under this category, applications can be made by candidates holding a doctorate or Master’s degree awarded in the two years prior to the date of application. The degree must be in natural, applied or health sciences from an eligible program at designated post-secondary institutions in B.C.

International graduates: This category allows applications from those who hold a diploma, degree, or certificate from a recognized post-secondary Canadian institution. The requisite diplomas or certificates must be from public post-secondary institutions only.

Skilled workers: Those qualified under specific occupations in trade, management and other professions. The applicant must also hold a university degree or professional diploma.

Except for the international post graduates, all other streams require candidates to also have a full-time permanent job offer and adequate salary that will ensure the economic self-sufficiency of the candidate in the province.

Only skilled workers holding a high standard qualification in terms of a university degree or trade school diploma combined with significant work experience will be considered under British Columbia’s Express Entry program. The program is not for foreign workers looking to enter Canada under the low-skilled stream or under a temporary work arrangement.

Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC) has increased the quota for B.C.’s provincial nominee allocation from 4,150 to 5,500 this year, thus bringing the province on par with the western provinces, which have generally received a higher number of provincial nominee allocations during the past few years.

Successful applicants approved under express entry will receive Canadian permanent residence. CIC has promised to process all express entry applications within a time period of six months.

The Modified Processing Instructions for Information Technology Work Permit Applications (Software Pilot) for British Columbia and Quebec

Issue

This Operational Bulletin (OB) replaces OB 225-D, published on September 30, 2011. OB 225-D dealt with the “Modified Processing Instructions for Information Technology (IT) Work Permit Applications (Software Pilot) for British Columbia and Quebec”. At present, the authorities have decided to keep the facilitated process for Quebec in place until further notice.

Situations will arise where officers receive work permit applications for the seven specific Information Technology (IT) occupations. The authorities had placed these seven occupations in the facilitated process for Information Technology (IT) specialists destined to British Columbia. Henceforth however, work permit applications for these seven occupations will require a Labour Market Opinion (LMO). This requirement comes into effect from January 01, 2012.

In OB 225-E, the authorities have mentioned that the facilitated process for British Columbia concluded on December 31, 2011. However, the authorities aim to keep the facilitated process for Quebec in place until further notice.

Background

Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) [Service Canada] issued a notice to employers on May 20, 2010. It notified the employers that the simplified process for certain Information Technology (IT) occupations was going to end on September 30, 2010.

It also informed the employers that employers wishing to hire a Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW), who was previously ineligible for Information Technology (IT) facilitated processing, would need to apply for a Labour Market Opinion (LMO). This update applied everywhere except in:

British Columbia, where the authorities extended the simplified process for certain Information Technology (IT) applications till December 31, 2011 and,

Quebec, where the authorities extended the simplified process for certain Information Technology (IT) applications until further notice

Thus, employers would need to apply for a Labour Market Opinion (LMO) for the specified workers with effect from October 01, 2010.

The Guidelines

The Guidelines Applicable for Work Permit Applications Received Prior to January 01, 2012

Officers will apply the terms of the simplified entry process for the seven specific Information Technology (IT) occupations. The authorities have specified the details of these occupations on the website of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (CIC). They will do so for work permit applications they receive up to and including December 31, 2011 for:

Initial applications and,

Renewals

On approving these applications, the officers would need to ensure that they have a maximum duration of one year from the date of work permit issuance. This is in accordance with previously issued instructions.

The Guidelines Applicable for Work Permit Applications Received On or After January 01, 2012

The authorities have mandated that certain work permit applications would require a Labour Market Opinion (LMO). This is especially applicable in cases where the work permit applications are for the seven specific Information Technology (IT) occupations, which previously came under the facilitated process. This requirement comes into effect from January 01, 2012.

In addition, the Labour Market Opinion (LMO) would need to specify the requirements for the durations of the occupations. The officers would need to ensure that the work permit durations are in accordance with the requirements specified within the Labour Market Opinion (LMO).

Officers must also note that the facilitated process will continue in Quebec until further notice.

Readers might require more information about the information given in this OB. They could refer to the website of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC) for obtaining greater clarity on the subject.

An investigation conducted by South China Morning Post revealed that 53% of the 29,764 investor immigrants from China mainland, Taiwan or Hong Kong, who had activated their permanent residency in British Columbia between 2005 and 2012, had told authorities that they were going to live in a different province. The Canadian constitutional right to freedom of movement has made this possible, by overriding the enforcement of the destination pledges made by the investor immigrants.

The Hong Hong nationals formed only a tiny part of the arrivals between 2005 and 2012 whereas among the Taiwanese, the deception rate was much lower at 17%.

As a result of this development, British Columbia got access to more than C$2 billion as ‘no-interest’ loans made by the investor immigrants which was divided among the provinces which were stated in the immigrants’ application but was not their actual destination.

The federal version of Canada’s Immigrant Investor Program (IIP) had been shut down in June, and only Quebec’s provincial version is continuing to operate.

The investor immigrants to Canada have to pass scrutiny at Vancouver’s international immigration checkpoints, and more so if they had got permanent residency under Quebec’s investor immigration program.

But a Canadian immigration expert says that this scrutiny was easy to pass. At the checkpoint the investors may be asked to show their onward ticket to Montreal so as to prove their intention to live in Quebec but this requirement could easily be met by the immigrants and they could thereafter go wherever they wanted, he explained. “Although there are bureaucrats who are concerned about this and are encouraging frontline officers to scrutinize these applicants, everyone knows it happens. In Quebec, the officials know that it is happening. But they are getting the investment money, and they are getting the settlement funding from the federal government. But they are not getting the bodies,” says the expert.

According to industry stakeholders, British Columbia was facing twin challenges due to this issue – by missing out on loans from rich Chinese investor immigrants, and by having to bear the costs involved in their settlement without adequate federal funding. When weighed against the constitutional right to freedom of movement, it was “very difficult to enforce” a rule that immigrants stick to their stated destination, says one lawyer. “Not unless the federal government, upon investigation, realizes that they have misrepresented themselves from the outset. But if you or I decide to immigrate to Manitoba and then decide that we don’t like it – and that could be after a very short interval – well, constitutionally we have mobility rights. We can live wherever we want in Canada once we are here as permanent residents”, he explained.

However the 53% deception rate is still conservative as it does not take into account a number of Chinese immigrants who activated their permanent residency in other provinces and moved to British Columbia later on. It is estimated that 90% of The majority of Quebec’s investor immigrants do not live there after five years and most of them move to British Columbia.

The Investor Immigration Program of Canada has been most popular among the Chinese, who formed 81% of all arrivals in British Columbia between 2005 and 2012. In the same period, there were 7,128 non-Chinese arrivals in the province, with deception rate of 13%.

Approximately 36,892 investor migrants arrived in British Columbia between 2005 and 20012. This figure exceeds the number of people who immigrated to the United States under their EB5 wealth migration scheme. There were 77,607 applications to move to British Columbia during this period – this far outstripped applications to Australia, the US and the UK combined.

History of Canada’s Immigrant Investor Program (IIP)

Canada’s Immigrant Investor Program had been very popular among rich investors from Hong Kong and mainland China for the past 28 years. However the program had been under close scrutiny for quite some time and it was scrapped in June this year. According to the critics of this program, people admitted under this scheme had failed to contribute adequately to Canada, especially by declaring little taxable income on arrival despite having a minimum household wealth of C$1.6 million.

The Canadian IIP required investors to lodge C$800,000 as a five-year, interest-free loan, in exchange for which they were granted permanent residency of Canada with an option to apply for citizenship later on.

Source: www.scmp.com

Attorney Colin Singer Commentary:

The current Tory government cancelled the Federal Immigrant Investor program in June 2014 while stating that the benefits to Canada were not sufficient. This was carried out after an inventory of unprocessed applications had swelled to 15,000, some dating back more than 5 years. It is unfathomable that the program, which has been in place for 28 years and has become a staple product in more than 20 jurisdictions worldwide, is not financially beneficial. What is more apparent is this government during its tenure since 2006 has not shown any interest in developing a competitive business immigration program which by any objective measure provides enormous direct and indirect financial benefits to Canada.

Experienced Canadian helicopter pilots have expressed their concerns about employers hiring cheap temporary foreign workers instead of them, by denying the experienced pilots these jobs. The pilots say that if left unchecked, this trend of hiring cheap temporary foreign workers could spell the death knell for the industry.

Bill Wadsworth is a helicopter pilot in Mayne Island, British Columbia, with about 25 years of experience. He said that he had recently applied for several jobs at various companies in the province. While he was not selected or shortlisted for any of the jobs he applied for, he did come to know that several companies to which he had applied had subsequently sought cheap temporary foreign workers. Ironically, each of the companies to which Mr. Wadsworth applied had mentioned that they had no openings at the time.

In a subsequent interview, Mr. Wadsworth said that he often came across job postings for pilots that offered hourly rates well below the prevailing industry standards. While this would effectively drive down wages in the near future, according to him, this practice of hiring cheap temporary foreign workers instead of experienced Canadian helicopter pilots would eventually lead to the demise of the industry.

Mr. Wadsworth said that this practice showed how Canadian employers were leveraging foreign workers against experienced Canadian pilots. “They’re leveraging the foreign workers against the Canadian pilots, essentially threatening Canadians by saying: ‘We’re paying these guys so little and we’re only going to pay you 10 dollars an hour more. So you either go with the flow here or we’re hiring TFWs and you’re out of work,” he said.

Kirsten Brazier, a helicopter and fixed-wing pilot in Vancouver has encountered similar experiences. She said that employers were increasingly telling Canadian pilots across the country that the Canadian pilots were under-qualified, thereby emphasizing the need to hire cheaper temporary foreign workers. In doing so, these employers were simply exploiting the loopholes in the system and hoodwinking the federal government.

The Canadian Press examined several applications for temporary foreign workers, filed by private helicopter operators from across Canada and found that these hiring companies have expressed their inability to find domestic candidates who possess the required skills.

Ms. Brazier said that the practice of not employing Canadian pilots would damage the industry in the end, as operators would use the program as a justification for disqualifying competent Canadian pilots.

Once again, Canada added jobs in March and saw the overall unemployment rate drop to 6.9 percent.

The latest numbers are spurring further hope of recovery, as experts’ economic predictions were surpassed. Overall, Canada added 43,000 new jobs last month, though most of those are part-time.

Additionally, most of the new positions are in the public sector, rather than driven by private companies.

British Columbia had the highest growth, with 18,000 new positions. Quebec and Ontario had the second and third most new jobs in March, at 15,100 and 13,400, respectively.

B.C.’s numbers were the highest since the fall of 2012, and the unemployment rate of 5.8 percent makes it the fourth most-employed province behind Saskatchewan, Alberta and Manitoba.

Despite the preponderance of part-time positions, economists are pleased that the numbers for March reflect a boost in employment for young Canadians, aged 15-24. They are also stronger than expected during winter months when the economy overall tends to slow down.

New statistics show that Alberta has overtaken British Columbia in terms of welcoming new immigrants.

For the first time, Alberta has welcomed more newcomers than B.C., according to the latest data from the Canada West Foundation.

Statistics show that since approximately 2005, while growth in B.C. has stagnated, migration to Alberta as well as to the other prairie provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan has boomed. In Saskatchewan alone, immigration has increased by 570 percent in the past ten years. Alberta and Manitoba grew 144 and 188 percent, respectively. During that same time period, immigration to B.C. increased by a mere 6.4 percent.

Experts point to several factors in explaining this trend, including a limited number of provincial nominees each year, the recent cancellation of the Immigrant Investor Program, as well as B.C.’s relatively stagnant economic growth in recent years.

In addition, wages in the province have not kept pace with inflation, while cost of living generally, and house prices in particular, have skyrocketed in recent years. All of these factors have countered many of B.C.’s positive traits, including scenery, lifestyle and proximity to Asia.

Newcomers are not the only ones foregoing the beautiful scenery and temperate climate of British Columbia – 8,567 residents relocated to other provinces in 2012.

Overall, Ontario and Quebec still attract the most immigrants each year, welcoming 40 and 21 percent of newcomers in 2013, respectively.

Employers in British Columbia are bracing themselves for more worker shortages, with nearly 50 projects on the go, most of which are in the billion-dollar range.

Business experts say that by 2020, the province will see about a million new jobs created in construction and operation of these projects. Though employers will certainly be looking at B.C. residents to fill those positions, they are also prepping for the likelihood that outside recruitment will be necessary.

“[T]he reality of it is, if we look at the projects that we’ve got going here in British Columbia, there will be a continued need and demand for access to temporary labour both from across Canada and from outside our borders,” said B.C. deputy job minister Dave Byng in a recent Vancouver talk. “And so you’ll most certainly see the province speaking from that perspective and working hard to ensure … access to temporary foreign workers.”

Immigration Minister Chris Alexander says that his government is prepared to provide the support B.C. businesses will need moving forward, pointing to the new Expression of Interest program in particular.

The Expression of Interest program, scheduled to launch next year, will allow employers to select workers from a pool of skilled worker applicants, giving them a much more proactive role in Canada’s immigration system.

“Those with a job offer,” said Alexander, “will have an almost automatic claim to our immigration system.”